During the first eight months of the current year, industrial enterprises above a designated size in Southwest China's Guizhou province – companies with an annual revenue of 20 million yuan ($3.1 million) or more – posted a total profit of 81.8 billion yuan ($12.69 billion), a 31.9 percent increase year-on-year.
Total business income in the same period was 663.92 billion yuan, up 17.4 percent year-on-year. Of the 19 main industries surveyed, 16 reportedly maintained growth, with 11 experiencing double-digit growth.
Meanwhile, costs per unit of production decreased. By the end of August, the average cost per 100-yuan of business income was 72.39 yuan, a decrease of 0.77 yuan year-on-year. Among manufacturers above a designated size, large-scale businesses decreased their costs by 0.41 yuan during the period, while small-scale enterprises reduced their costs by 0.49 yuan year-on-year.
Profit margins improved during the period. By the end of August, the profit margin on earnings from manufacturers above a designated size was 12.3 percent, up 1.4 percentage points year-on-year.
Among all the industries surveyed, margins in consumer goods manufacturing averaged 30.6 percent, up 1.8 percentage points year-on-year. Elsewhere, profit margins in high-tech manufacturing were 7.7 percent, up 2.9 percentage points.